Mr. Miller looked at Collin blankly. The students stared at Collin, too, as if they were surprised to hear a student yelling in class. "Get into the hallway. Hurry!" Collin shouted again. Without waiting for an answer, he bolted from the room.

Didn't anyone realize the awesome power of this storm?

For a second, the lights in the hallway flickered on ... and off ... and back on. The intercom over which the principal made announcements screeched loudly, before the power failed once again and darkness returned. Above him, Collin could hear the wind whistling around the roof, could hear the stretching and straining of the old school building. And he wondered -- was the storm passing, or had it just arrived?

He had to warn everyone. He had to!

Collin pulled open the door to his own familiar classroom.

In the darkness, Collin could see Mrs. Lee standing at the front of the room. "Just stay calm, class. Remember what Principal Donovan said? It's just a storm. It should pass us by very soon."

"No!" Collin shouted. "It's not!" All his classmates looked at him. Some snickered.

"Where have you been, young man?" asked the teacher firmly, but Collin cut her off. "Please, Mrs. Lee. It's not just a storm. It's a tornado ... a real tornado."

The students looked back at their teacher nervously. "Now, Collin," she said quietly, "you know that tornadoes are very, very rare in California..."